The purchase by the Department of Education (DepEd) of pricey cameras has triggered a backlash from teachers grown hoarse from demanding a pay upgrade and increase. “If they have a budget for overpriced cameras and laptops, how come they don’t have a budget for our pay increase?” said Erlinda Alfonso, a teacher at the San...
Author: TJ Burgonio (TJ Burgonio)
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Overworked and underpaid, nurses are packing up, flying out
The demand for Filipino nurses in Europe is so high that Germany and the United Kingdom are reportedly talking directly with administrators of some nursing schools in the Philippines to recruit their students. But German Ambassador Anke Reiffenstuel recently took to Twitter to deny that Germany was “pirating” Filipino nursing students to fill the shortage...
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Marcos Jr. should learn from history, Biazon says in wake of military brass shakeup
The dictator Ferdinand Marcos kept Gen. Romeo Espino for nine years as chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to enforce martial law, causing deep division and disenchantment among the military officers and men. The rumblings eventually reached tipping point. Then Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and the AFP vice chief of staff,...
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Nuclear power: Energy agency wants objective study by independent party
(Last of two parts) President Marcos Jr. is all for the idea of reviving the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP), but the Department of Energy (DoE) is leaving no stone unturned to ensure the safety, if at all possible, of the controversial facility that has been lying dormant for nearly 40 years. Weeks after Mr....
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Nuclear power: Rehab of Bataan plant pushed in big way
(First of two parts) President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. appears intent on getting the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) going before he steps down in June 2028, in what critics say could be yet another project to airbrush his father’s legacy. The nuclear power plant in the province of Bataan west of Manila was built...
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Trafficking Filipinos: Are immigration, airport personnel involved?
(Last of two parts) :Trafficking Filipinos: Philippines becoming ‘incubator of scammers’ A mix of excitement and anxiety filled “Paulo” as he stepped off a cab at the departure area of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) Terminal 3 on Oct. 4. He was flying to Thailand, his first trip out of the country. Everything had...
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Trafficking Filipinos: Philippines becoming ‘incubator of scammers’
(First of two parts) Trafficking Filipinos: Are immigration, airport personnel involved? Tantalized by the promise of being paid P50,000 a month, “Betty,” a single mother of four in Navotas City north of Manila, didn’t think twice about grabbing an opportunity last April to work as a call center agent in Thailand. Before the month ended,...
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World Cup 2022: Thrilling for reasons other than the games
As the biggest show on earth reaches fever pitch in Qatar, fans are being treated to thrilling sideshows that have little to do with the tournament, but with far-reaching implications for the participating countries. Since kicking off on Nov. 21 at the Khalifa International Stadium, the 2022 FIFA World Cup has been abuzz with...
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COP27 outcome ‘best ever,’ but fight for climate justice far from over
Climate expert Tony La Viña summed up the outcome of the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Egypt in this way: the best ever for not only climate justice advocates but fossil producers, too. “COP27 is the biggest victory ever for climate justice advocates in the last 30 years,” La Viña, associate director...
